Scars of a Hero
by kurohyacchan
Summary: According to Fi's research, a brief talk would make Link's emotional levels, now heavily shaken, go up to average again. \\ Oneshot. Post mid-game (spoilers). Implied Link x Zelda.


Fi, as a sword spirit created by Hylia, couldn't exactly understand why her goddess's chosen hero would falter so suddenly after enduring their journey so well.

Ever since they both left Skyloft, Link seemed to handle the drawbacks really nicely, be those enemies that needed to be defeated, requests from the sky folks, help that needed to be offered, puzzles that needed to be solved and so on. Fi was (to not say surprised, for she could not yet feel anything with depth) slightly taken aback by the speed that the young adult could fit into the violent world he was thrown into; he had some sword lessons before, but it was not a real battle experience, nor real-time reactions to attacks. She was almost satisfied with his fast progress - the spirit of the hero within his body was growing very fast.

However, she noticed the boy had been feeling exhausted - he had not much time to rest; he was getting more and more dark rings around his eyes (and, according to her database, Link was an avid sleeper), his battles were getting harder (he was getting more scratches and bruises) and he was less enthusiastic than before – and it all worsened after they had met Her Grace once more, inside the Sealed Temple, a thousand years in the past.

The most visible change was his silence. He was not much of a chatter, but he certainly knew how to talk. After he left Skyloft, Link, as he was obviously not used to emotionless and robotic humanoid personifications of swords, used to talk to her in order to fill the awkward silence that he used to feel sometimes with the humans he lived with. As their quest progressed, though, he learned that the silence was not intentionally awkward and that Fi was not very talkative (unless he asked for information and analysis about their situations and enemies) - and then, he started enjoying the silence that was, at least to him, pleasant.

Lately, though, the boy would sometimes would make pointless questions (most asking about Fi's suppositions about Zelda's well-being, about what would his dead parents think of him if they were alive, about his life in Skyloft, and so on); the sword spirit concluded that he was homesick and tired.

And even though she assimilated his current emotions as threatens to his health and mental state, she could not relate to them. She couldn't feel nostalgic, or sad, or tired. The actions that were in her reach were merely assimilating and searching her database, created by Hylia and, sometimes, being updated with Link's help – however, the most human thing Fi possessed until then was respect for her creator and for him; and within that, she found a contradiction.

In her database, 'respect' consisted of a positive feeling of esteem or regard; that confirmed that, indeed, Fi could actually have emotions, but needed to develop them.

She was 10% sure that she had not been created to actually be something that could think on its own will and be as human as possible. On the other hand, her records showed dialogues with Hylia (in her full, previous form) in which the goddess was acting almost motherly towards the spirit, and was asking her to be sure to not only fulfill the purpose of her existence, but to find happiness while doing it.

Happiness: generally, it is a mental or emotional state of well-being characterized by positive or pleasant emotions ranging from contentment to intense joy.

Fi could not understand that concept. But if her creator wanted her to know it, she was sure that she would eventually get used to it. However, right now, the most important thing that should be done would be ensure her master's health and recover.

Fi searched in her database a solution to the problem and found the phrase "get something off one's chest"; it meant to talk about one's problems or inconveniences until they were better emotionally. According to some more data, it doesn't always work – it depends on the subject - so she deduced it had 50% chances of raising his emotional levels.

It was time to try it.

* * *

Link left the Sealed Temple, clearly fatigued, and walked silently towards the entrance of Faron Woods.

He hadn't been visiting Skyloft so often now, and he honestly missed his bed – he used the little time he had to sleep in small, uncomfortable caves or bigger tree branches that were supposed to be safer than just sleeping in open field, with his back vulnerable to enemies. Well, they were safer from fiends indeed –then again, they were as twice as rough as the grassy ground or the sandy plains, only losing to Eldin's volcano rocks.

Aside from the bed, he missed the food as well. Oh, dear Hylia, the food. He never thought he'd miss Henya, the (moody) old woman that worked in the kitchen of the Knight Academy – her pumpkin soup was one of the bests that Link had ever tasted.

Link also never thought he'd miss the time back when he and Zelda had entered the Academy – when his only fears were basically getting bullied by Groose, Cawlin and Stritch and to fail at the tests that Horwell and Owlan would make (he was always better at the weapons and flying trainings). His academic life couldn't exactly be called a gold one, but now that Link had grown up to be the chosen hero of the very goddess of the legends, he'd say he would like to taste those days again.

He really enjoyed spending time with Fledge, Zelda, Karane and Pipit; they'd always get rides on the latters' loftwings, since they were already graduated on the first half of the Academy (being a year older than Link). Both of them were knights already, and even though they were not yet fully graduated, they already went in small missions – Link admired them because of that.

The reason of it was that back then and until the present, Skyloft had a significant lack of people, especially Knights, after most of them were sent off to the surface due to a secret mission that only a few knew about. Most of them couldn't even pass the thick barrier of clouds that closed the access to it, and those who could miraculously pierce through it hadn't returned. In fact, none of the ones sent to that mission had returned alive – those who remained above the clouds were too close to the edge of the barrier and, oddly, were all slayed by a set of small black tornadoes (that, now, Link recognized as a deed prepared by Ghirahim).

Out of all the deceased Knights, there were Link's parents and Zelda's mother, along with many relatives of the people that remained alive in the floating island. The boy clearly remembered the day that Gaepora had called him to his office, in the middle of the night, only to tell him about that very secret mission and about his parents' deaths – it was the worst day he could ever remember, and he'd always try to avoid thinking about it.

Avoiding it, good or not, was a choice he had to make in order to move on. In his young teen years, Link would feel alone very often; it wasn't the lack of friends or lack of gentle people around him – it was the loss and lack of his parents, their support and their love. Gaepora took responsibility in his custody and did his best to take care of the boy, but he couldn't be present in all the times. Link, of course, was glad that the director could be a fatherly figure to him.

He remembered, though, that Gaepora asked Link to not tell Zelda about that mission – he couldn't bear the fact that he was the one that was responsible for their deaths and couldn't muster the strength to tell his daughter about it. In a later conversation with his childhood friend, though, he noticed that the girl knew something about it – not the objective of the mission, or the mission itself, but she understood that her father couldn't gather any courage to say it.

Anyway, even with his parents' deaths, Link could say that, in Skyloft, he was happy – he didn't have many friends and acquaintances, but the ones he had were enough.

And now, he could see how he had not cherished those days enough. Now, it looked like his whole life had been planned and sewn by someone else's hands; he had left his home for Zelda, whom he was worried sick, and just did what was told to him – end the lives of countless monsters, explore dangerous places, risk his life and blood - when it all turned out to be something really more complex and deep than he expected.

Out of all the unbelievable things he had heard from Zelda – his best friend, the girl who had been supporting him ever since he was a kid, the most cheerful, stubborn, clever, beautiful, clumsy and reckless girl whom he had known in years – the one that shocked him the most was the fact that Zelda – _his Zelda_ – was actually the goddess – _the goddess that they had been praying for generations – _reborn as a mortal, and had a mission that he needed to complete, _for the sake of the whole freaking world_.

And it was then that it hit him.

He was in an even deeper shit than he thought to be.

Not that it was horrible: no, it wasn't all that. It felt pleasant to be momentarily free, to be able to fly wherever he wanted, to go out on adventures, to feel his blood boil for battle, to experience emotions that were intensely different from those that he felt while living peacefully in the sky.

But it wasn't wonderful either. He was taking lives – even if they were wicked servants of Ghirahim, or Demise, or whatever was the source of evil. He was killing living beings. He was making Fi bathe in the blood of demons. He was utterly and completely exhausted.

Exhausted of going through dungeons and temples and almost having his bones broken and having scars all along his body and being cold in the night and _freezing_ when it rained and not having a proper shelter or having a proper shield and of battling all those monsters and things that looked like just crawled from an horror story and much, much more things that he could not bring out the energy to think about.

He was absolutely terrified at the thought of Zelda being in a comatose state, for thousands of years, inside a crystal thing, while there was a psycho freak just a Gate of Time away from her safety, ready to give her life for the sake of Demise.

If he wasn't so utterly overwhelmed, he was certain that he would hit his head on a tree or whatever to make sure that he wasn't having a nightmare.

Link, sighing, wiped off the sweat of his face and noticed a small, long protuberance in his cheek. Running his fingers in the same spot, he felt a stingy pain, and deduced that it was another scar from the most recent battle against the Imprisoned (and he found it weird, since he didn't feel its pain while in the middle of the battle).

Now inside Faron Woods, he looked around for a (comfortable) place where he could sit down and take care of his wounds – and the closest spot was one of the unusually big mushrooms that spread through the forest.

While he cleaned the dirt and blood in his skin (not wincing anymore, as he was already used to the pain), he saw Fi, or more specifically, her sword form, flashing with the corner of his eyes. The boy rolled his eyes, sighing heavily.

- Not now, Fi – he breathed, tense – I need some time alone. Let me be.

The sword kept on flashing nevertheless; Link ignored it and kept on treating his injuries, putting a bandage around his knee – which he had hurt by stepping to hard in the ground during the battle. He could see Machi timidly approaching them behind a tree, and pretended not to see him as well – he wasn't trying to be rude, but the kikwi was naturally curious, and the young hero was sure that it would notice his current mental commotion.

- _Master, I detect that your current emotional levels are highly disturbed._ – Fi's emotionless voice echoed through the meadow, scaring the creature off - _You cannot go on your quest if they are as such._

Link ignored her once more, placing a gauze bandage above the scar on his cheek and resting his arms on his knees.

- _My human knowledge indicates that a brief talk can make those levels go back to average._ – she stated, leaving the sword and assuming her spirit form.

He got surprised; was she asking him to… actually talk to her? The blond hesitated; even though he already acknowledged Fi a good friend and company, never once in their journey he considered chatting with her to let all his frustrations and problems out - he would certainly appreciate the gesture, and probably would feel better at voicing them, but the sword spirit was not exactly a being that could understand or relate to human emotions, and he wanted her to do so.

- _This is essential to your well-being, Master._

Well. She was right.

He'd probably feel better after having that talk. He'd do a better progress and work in finding the Triforce for Zelda, and he wouldn't accumulate more stress while doing it. Sighing, he tried to hold back the tears that threatened to fall, with no success.

He really hated when he cried. That feeling of a lump in his throat was extremely unpleasant and the whole thing was humiliating.

- … It's just… I feel so overwhelmed. When we started our journey, I thought it was just about saving Zelda and making sure she was ok… But it's so bigger than that. – he paused, his voice trembling; Fi nodded, and he read the gesture as an incentive – I don't feel ready, mature, or… or as if I had an unbreakable spirit, like Zelda said. I fell small. Powerless.

He was surprised on how the words easily left his mouth, almost as he missed talking to someone who'd hear him out. He guessed that was one of the bad things of not talking too much.

- On top of that, Fi… It looks like she's bearing an even heavier burden than me. When we met her on the Sealed Temple, she looked so… old. As if she no longer belonged in this era. – he closed his eyes, remembering her serene expression in front of him – she was so distant, so far, so different from the girl I'd spend my time with. She really… Resembled a goddess.

The sword spirit merely stared emotionless at him – the boy wasn't really sure, but there was a hint of empathy on her features; she almost looked human on that second. Shaking his head, he assumed she was waiting for his next statements, and proceeded to talk.

- And at the same time, she wanted to apologize for all I've been through. She is responsible for dragging me into this, yes, but I never even thought of blaming her. I felt like she wanted to… I don't know, to go back to her old self, to being the old Zelda, not Hylia, not a goddess. And yet, she was fulfilling her duty.

He sighed again, noticing his tears had stopped falling. Wiping them away, he proceeded to explain his thoughts to Fi.

Link fully remembered the way his friend acted. It was very, very different from the usual upbeat behavior – she seemed wise, responsible, cautious. And yet, she seemed so sad.

So unreachable.

He'd wanted to assure her it was all going to turn out well – but he wasn't so sure of that. Ghirahim was there, and his gut had a very bad feeling about Demise. Even though, he wanted her to stop wearing that sorrowful expression.

He'd wanted to tell her he'd missed her so much it hurt, and he didn't even want to recall the thought of having her dead because she fell off the sky. It was the same kind of death that his parents had died. He thought he'd have to face it all over again.

He'd wanted to tell her about what he had endured. That despite he fought countless monsters, he was afraid of death. He was afraid of dying and letting everything without a conclusion, letting the king of demons end the life in the land, leaving everything behind.

- And I couldn't tell her a thing. – Link muttered – When I saw her tears, I swallowed everything I had at my tongue. She was crying, Fi. Crying. And I wondered: why the heck have I been through hell and forth if she looked as if she was the one who had been through all that? For what have I been fighting for if she was safe just physically, but not emotionally?

He clenched his fists at the memory of seeing her sad smile behind that gem, asking him to wake her up – he promised he would, heck; she **was** waking up, even if he couldn't accomplish that task and broke his hands while trying to break that thing apart.

- Now she's been inside that crystal for what, thousands of years…? – he heaved a sigh once again – and even within that goddamn shatterproof thing, she's not free from danger.

And it wasn't just her. It was the whole world.

He told Fi; he thought he should have prepared himself mentally for this adventure, and not only getting a shield, or potions, or revising his sword slashes. He had acted without thinking, and now, he was thinking without acting.

Feeling he already told her more than enough – and also feeling a lot less weight on his shoulders –, he exhaled, satisfied. The whole talk had, indeed, made him feel better.

- Well… I'll have to deal with it, but it doesn't look as bad now that I spelt it all out. Thanks for listening, Fi – he smiled to her – But hey, I think I talked too much. Sorry about that-

- _Master, I do not provide emotions, or should I say, I do not share the same human thoughts, emotions and reactions you have, and, therefore, I'm not able to comprehend your point. _– Fi interrupted him, her mechanic voice echoing once more - _However, I understand that those emotions are very prejudicial and, facing the fact that I've been created with the purpose of assisting you and Your Grace, I could say I have a feeling that assimilates to gratitude if the mere action of talking will normalize your emotional parameters._

Link, surprised, stared at her for a couple of seconds before snickering and asking her:

- So, you say you're glad? Isn't that a bit human for a sword? – he teased her, but his joyful expression was back.

- _There's a very small chance that I may be developing a human mind, Master, but I have no records of a sword spirit becoming a human. – _she answered, her voice somehow sounding a bit ironic.

- Yeah, yeah. – he laughed, getting on his feet after jumping back to ground – I feel better now. Thanks again.

It was time to go on – and he shouldn't feel discouraged now. He was supposed to search the Triforce in Skyloft, and that would probably give him some time to eat a proper meal, sleep a whole night (or day, it really didn't matter; as a sleepyhead, as Zelda called him, he could sleep at any time of the day without insomnia and such), and talk to a few people about trivial or important things. It would be, maybe, a day off – he was going to talk to Gaepora to see if he knew about the holy artifact, but he was doing it on the night. Fi wouldn't blame him if he wanted to take a short break, even more after that talk.

The adventure surely wasn't bad if he changed his point of view and raised his optimism a bit.

He sighed for the last time on that day, this time, contently.

* * *

"_Master, my analysis indicates you should tell Her Grace about what you just told me after our quest is over"_, the sword spirit's voice suddenly burst out a few minutes later.

"Yeah, I'll do that", he answered happily. "Make sure to be there to remember me – Zelda always says I forget the promises I make", he added, recalling the day of the Wing Ceremony, when she had to wake him up because he overslept, forgetting that he promised to meet her at morning.

Oddly, Fi took long seconds to answer him – he wondered if she was actually hesitating – but, nevertheless, she answered him:

"_...Yes, Master."_

* * *

**Finally I finished this. I'm sorry for the headcanon bombs, I just wanted to insert them on this fic.**

**I've always wondered what would Link (not only in Skyward Sword, but in other games) think about his adventures – I mean, he almost always starts the game without any experience on dungeons and shit and then he has to leave his town to save the world. I think that on games where he's a child, he'd enjoy it more, since he'd maybe not think so further, and children usually have this blessed ability of not thinking too deep about stuff; it's just a matter of being a good thing or not or something like that. Now on other games, he's more grown up, and this age is the one where you actually start to wonder and question stuff way more than before, lol.**

**So I think that in SS, he enjoys going through the quest, but he actually notices the bad things inside it and feels powerless/frustrated knowing that even not liking them, he can't change them because he has to overcome them. Just like life. Lol**

**I don't like very much how this one turned out, but well, it sounds good enough. It was kinda hard write about Fi, and writing the dialogues too, I'm a klutz with those, ugh.**

**Forgive me if there's any mistake, beta-ing your own fanfiction is hard and only works when it's already posted.**


End file.
